The "Why Should I Care?" Series-Naima

Naima's Blog was the first I stumbled across when I got the wild hair up my ass one day to google "bellydance blogs". ( and to subsequently start my own). To say she is an interesting person is putting it mildly, and I often think of her as "Blog Mother" ( bet you didn't know that)... I love that she is a part of the Why Should I Care? Series.
So, Why Should We Care? because she's * fireworks* angels with trumpets* hallelujah chorus* rainbows and ponies*......NAIMA! ( aaand she has a great blog, aaand she makes killer bedlah).....not to mention the fact that her answers are friggin funny.

Naima has been a part of the Springfield, MO Bellydance community for over 10 years. She has been described by her peers as, "Naughty, Alluring, Irrational, Monkey-like, and All-knowing." She hides her secret Bellydance Identity by working in the health care insurance industry and living with "The Husband Person" and their 2 beloved cats.





1. If you had to give away all of your dance stuff except one thing, what would you keep?

My Bellydance Party: Isis & The Wings Of Isis CD. I can dance without costumes or props. I can practice without my dance videos. But I have to have music and this CD has a little of everything including, “Happy Birthday,” in English and Arabic.



2. Move you do so well that the audience starts high fiving each other....

I can do a vibration on one hip at a time. I can vibrate the right hip, then the left, then the right, etc. This sounds cool but I actually came across it by accident when I first started trying to do vibrations. My left side just didn't seem to want to vibrate at the same speed and intensity as the right, so I put all my weight onto my right foot in frustration and behold, a one-legged/one-hip vibration was born. My left side is still a little slow but the awesomeness of vibrating one hip at a time pretty much cancels that out.



3. Move that makes you look like a blind roller skater......

Anything with a veil. I look more like a blind roller skater trying to hang laundry in a windstorm though...all flailing and cursing. I should practice veil more but I think blind roller skaters make good money with the circus.



4. What are you thinking right before you step onto the stage?

“I have to pee.”



Always, every time. I can use the bathroom right before putting on my costume, right after putting on my costume, 5 minutes before I perform, it doesn't matter. I don't get butterflies. I get the pee pee dance.



5. My dance closet contains more ............... than anything.

That's a tough one. I've spent my hard earned money pretty evenly on dance stuff over the years. I'd say it goes in cycles. One year, I bought a new CD every time I turned around. Another year I bought 2-3 costumes. Then DVDs and then more workshops. Then back to CDs. Once I splurge in one area I move to the next thing I don't have enough of. Right now I feel the need for more costumes and DVDs. Oh, and lots of beading supplies!



6. Write out your "Five year dance plan". ( like a business plan)

I initially read this question and thought, “Cool, I've written a business plan before. This should be fun!” I thought and thought and couldn't come up with anything. I finally realized my problem is that I saw the word “business” and immediately stonewalled. I love the dance. LOVE. And in the past, every time I've tried to approach it from a business standpoint as in teaching classes, running a studio, organizing a troupe, business cards, etc. it all suddenly became work. A job. No longer love. It became money and politics, networking, advertising, schmoozing. I'm a firm believer that all BD instructors are crazy because they are running a business and it slowly drains the sanity from them. Running a business is hard. I know from experience. I have chosen, for now, to just be a dancer. I can let my interests ebb and flow without loosing sight of why the dance makes me happy by not ruining that personal relationship by forcing it to create clients, money, or dance opportunities.

Currently, I am working on playing zills and increasing my playing speed. I was never taught how to play zills as a beginner. Now I'm backtracking and trying to add them into my dance repertoire. I am also working on veil again. I took beginner veil classes and then stopped in order to focus on dance technique. Adding a prop like veil takes a lot of work (see question 3.) Now I'm ready to devote more time to it. So, in five years, I expect to be happy and still dancing!



7. Bonus question. What does happy...cow...whatever mean? ( a phrase she used in our emails was Happy Lucky Cow Bang Soda Candy....I needed an explanation).

Legend around here has it somebody, (that no one can remember any more,) had/saw some imported Asian candy with the poorly translated name, “Happy Lucky Cow Band Soda Candy.” My friends and family figured it must be some pretty fantastic candy to have such an outstanding name. Pretty soon, everything and anything in my household that was particularly fantastic or superior became, “Happy Lucky Cow Bang Soda Candy.” So much so, that the gamer geeks at my house incorporated a “Happy Lucky Cow Bang Soda Candy Battle Bow” into one of their role playing games. I think it had god-like powers.


Thanks Naima, we think you are totally Happy Cow Bang Soda Candy-dancetastic!